Ohio State Buckeyes athletic director Gene Smith announced Wednesday that he plans to retire next summer. Here’s what you need to know:
- Smith has been the Buckeyes’ athletic director since 2005. A Cleveland native and football player at Notre Dame in the 1970s, Smith was previously the AD at Eastern Michigan, Iowa State and Arizona State.
- His retirement will be effective June 30, 2024. Smith said the search for his successor will begin after Ohio State hires a new president.
- Said Smith about his decision: “I’ve always been a driver, and there’s this peace that came over me that I didn’t have to be the person who was the inspiration to get something done.”
Gene Smith, Athletic Director at The Ohio State University, will retire in July 2024. Thank you for all you've done 🫶
Smith has spent the past 18 years at Ohio State leading one of the largest and most successful and outstanding athletic programs in the country. pic.twitter.com/g5sLxrDxlc
— Ohio State Buckeyes 🌰 (@OhioStAthletics) August 9, 2023
Why is Smith retiring?
There were other times during Smith’s 18-year tenure when it seemed like he might retire, including 2019. But he stayed on at Ohio State because he wanted to navigate the Buckeyes through the ever-changing college football landscape and help Ryan Day ease into his new job as the head football coach.
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The changes haven’t slowed down — from the pandemic to the transfer portal to NIL to more realignment — but Smith insists they’re not the reason why he decided to retire next June, just as the Big Ten adds UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington.
“The change in the industry is not what caused me to feel like I needed to step away,” Smith said. “My mentors have always said you’ll know if it’s time.”
Every summer, Smith talks with his wife Sheila about his future. This summer, at their Arizona home, he made the decision that this was the right time. He just had a feeling that he was ready and that Ohio State was in a good position to succeed without him thanks in part to the team he built behind him, saying that he “felt like I didn’t have to drive it anymore.”
“I’ve always wanted to leave a place better than I found it,” Smith said. “I also always wanted to leave a place that when the next person comes in, it gives them a chance to transition as smooth as possible, and they have that ability with this team. It wasn’t always that way — we’ve been unstable a little bit.” — Cameron Teague Robinson, Ohio State beat writer
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As Gene Smith retires at Ohio State, walking away from Ryan Day is the hard part
Who will be candidates to replace Smith?
Given the stature of the Ohio State job, the succession competition is expected to be one of the most intriguing college athletic director searches in a long time. Smith has produced a substantial athletic director tree, and a list of candidates may start there.
UCLA AD Martin Jarmond, Washington State AD Pat Chun and Pitt AD Heather Lyke all previously worked under Smith at Ohio State and have been the AD at multiple schools. Diana Sabau was just hired as Utah State’s AD, but the former deputy commissioner and chief sports officer for the Big Ten also spent several years working under Smith at Ohio State
Elsewhere, Ohio AD Julie Cromer is one of the most respected athletic directors in the country and co-chaired the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee alongside SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. — Chris Vannini and Nicole Auerbach, national college football writers
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Smith’s legacy at Ohio State
Smith became one of the most influential athletic directors in the country during his time at Ohio State. He is the longest-tenured athletic director in the Big Ten and became a major voice in the room when it came to any conference changes, including the COVID-19 pandemic, realignment and more.
His 18 years thus far have included 32 team national championships and 117 individual national titles, headlined by the 2014 football team’s run to the first College Football Playoff championship. Amid all the success, his tenure has come with challenges, including the lengthy investigation into Ohio State’s football program that ended with a one-year bowl ban, the loss of nine scholarships over three years and the resignation of coach Jim Tressel.
Since then, Smith has hired Urban Meyer, navigated his retirement and promoted Day, helping to keep the football program as a national power. His successor will now have to work with a new president and a new-look Big Ten while the athletic department continues to try to keep pace in the NIL space. — Teague Robinson
(Photo: Jeffrey Vest / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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